Animals at the Nashville Zoo and Walden’s Puddle recently enjoyed taking part in a bit of Vanderbilt tradition, thanks to the Office of the Chancellor and the Commencement Office.
The university donated strawberries left over from the Strawberries and Champagne celebration during Commencement to the two Nashville organizations for the third year in a row. Because fresh produce cannot be re-served or repackaged, the donation prevented the uneaten food from being sent to a landfill. Staff from Vanderbilt’s Sustainability and Environmental Management Office organized the donation and delivery when Commencement events concluded on Friday, May 13.
The Nashville Zoo shared the strawberries with their ring-tailed lemurs, red ruffed lemurs, siamang gibbons, sulcata tortoise, giant anteater, rhino hornbill and white-cheeked gibbon.
The strawberries also were enjoyed by native species at Walden’s Puddle, a wildlife rehabilitation and education facility that provides care and treatment to sick, injured and orphaned wildlife native to Tennessee.
See a video of the animals at the Nashville Zoo enjoying the strawberries here and more photos here.
For more information about Commencement, visit the Commencement website. For more information about recycling efforts or the Sustainability and Environmental Management Office, visit the SustainVU website, contact sustainvu@vanderbilt.edu or call (615) 322-9022.
Contact: Chelsea Hamilton
Sustainability and Environmental Management Office
(615) 322-9022